London/Keir Starmer announced this Monday his resignation as leader of the Labor Party and British Prime Minister, after losing the support of his parliamentary group. Starmer promised that he will do everything possible to achieve an orderly transition of the Executive.
At the head of a Labor Government that, in just under two years, went from obtaining an absolute majority under the promise of bringing change to the country, to becoming tremendously unpopular among the British.
The process to replace him could last until the autumn and the former mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, has already confirmed that he will present himself. On the train to London, where she takes up her seat as an MP, Burnham told X that Starmer’s resignation “marks the beginning of a transition and it is important that this process is carried out in an orderly and responsible manner.”
“I will present myself as part of this process,” he stated. Burnham has already assured that he has the necessary endorsements, while former minister Wes Streeting, who was emerging as a possible candidate, announced this Monday that he supports the former mayor of Manchester.
“Keir has provided an enormous service to our country and I want to thank him for his leadership and dedication during a very difficult period,” Burnham said.
“Keir has provided an enormous service to our country and I want to thank him for his leadership and dedication during such a difficult period,” said Burnham, who served as a minister in previous Labor administrations.
“The country expects stability, seriousness and a continued focus on the issues that matter most, and that is what it will receive. As we move forward, our priority must be to work together to return the United Kingdom to the point where we all want it to be,” he added.
Burnham noted in her message on the social network that “people want to see progress in economic growth, cost of living, public services, housing and opportunities for the next generation.” He also argued that “political change should never distract from the responsibility of improving people’s lives” and stressed that “the Labor movement has always been stronger when it looks forward with confidence and determination.”
“That is what we will do from now on, and we will ensure that this transition is a positive process of renewal for our party and our country,” he maintained.
Burnham was able to return to the House of Commons, where she is sworn in this Monday, by winning the seat for the Makerfield constituency on June 18, after a colleague left it vacant precisely so that she could run for it and, if she won, challenge the Labor leadership.
Starmer, a lawyer by profession, arrived on July 4, 2024 at the official residence of 10 Downing Street with a resounding victory in the general elections, after 14 years of Conservative governments.
With a serious and uncharismatic profile – far from the eccentricities of Boris Johnson – Starmer had, however, a long and successful political and public management career as his main asset.
But Starmer’s Labor mandate has been characterized by its lukewarm position on controversial issues such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as by some highly criticized fiscal and political decisions, such as cutting aid to pensioners or the appointment of former minister Peter Mandelson, with close ties to the convicted American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, as ambassador in Washington.
On the other hand, he also advocated for restoring relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU), damaged after Brexit, in trade, security and defense matters – without daring to advocate for the country’s return to the EU – and took the step forward when it came to leading international initiatives such as the so-called Coalition of Volunteers, together with France, to create a possible multinational peace force in Ukraine.
But his way of governing did not convince even the electorate that had supported him initially, who turned their backs on the Labor Party in the local and regional elections on May 7; nor to his own co-religionists, who ended up asking by the dozens for his resignation as prime minister and leader of the party.
But his way of governing did not convince even the electorate that had supported him initially, who turned their backs on the Labor Party in the local and regional elections on May 7.
Born on September 2, 1962 in the London neighborhood of Southwark, the son of a nurse and an industrial worker, Starmer was nurtured by Labor from the cradle, and is said to be named after the first member of the Labor Party in the British Parliament, Keir Hardie.
A Law graduate from the University of Leeds, and a Master’s degree in Civil Law from Oxford, Starmer began practicing as a solicitor in 1987, focusing on human rights cases and participating in high-profile prosecutions, which led to his appointment as Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales in 2008.
He who was “one of the most brilliant lawyers of his generation”, as the British press called him at the time, abandoned his tax career in 2013, and two years later he made the leap into politics as a parliamentarian in the House of Commons (lower) with the Labor Party.
After the Brexit referendum in 2016, he was appointed Labor spokesman on this issue, then under the leadership of the left-wing Jeremy Corbyn, whom he would end up succeeding as head of the party after Corbyn was forced to resign amid accusations of anti-Semitism. Starmer (married to Victoria, of Jewish origin), unlike Corbyn, has been attributed with an overly accommodating attitude towards Israel.
In April 2020, he was elected leader of the Labor Party with 56% of the votes in the primaries, with the aim of rebuilding the party in a post-Brexit scenario and after an electoral defeat.
Social discontent with the Starmer Government has been a catalyst for Nigel Farage’s populist right
Six years later, the scenario he leaves behind for the formation is similar, if not even worse. Social discontent with the Starmer Government has been a catalyst for the populist right of Nigel Farage, one of the main promoters of Brexit, whose Reform UK party now leads opinion polls ahead of the next general election, scheduled for 2029.
Labor saw it clear, after losing 1,500 councilors in England and fiefdoms like Wales, that if they wanted to have any option of revalidating for a second term in the face of Farage’s populist rise, it had to be with a leader other than Starmer.
The prime minister clung to his position until the last day, tried to redirect the Government’s priorities with renewed spirit, even rescued former Labor leader Gordon Brown in a symbolic gesture to strengthen his internal position as leader, but nothing was enough to prevent his departure from Downing Street.
